Advertisement
Published: August 9th 2011
Edit Blog Post
Hi all,
Well, I have to say, my month in Thailand flew by... and it's actually hard to write about now, because as I look back, I realize I basically did the same thing day-in, day-out. And, what's worse, the in-between was dominated by napping and fanning - yes, I believe I turned this into a true activity. Like any activity, there are requirements: an active fan on 'high', as little clothes as you are comfortable in and a bed to prop yourself in the best position for fully fan.
Each day we would wake up at 5:30am. Our morning run was 10-12kms, Monday to Friday, and 20kms (a longer run since we had such the luxury of having the next day off). We would come back to the camp for 3 hours of training. We always had bag work, and sometimes sparring, clinch, conditioning, or weights, pads, conditioning, or technique, partner work, conditioning, or any sort of combination... but always ending with conditioning that you were sure you could not survive, but somehow did. After training we stretched out and lined up for the showers. It was tricky business to get showered and hand-wash your clothes so that
you could hang them and get dressed before breakfast. And, again, breakfast was served, always the same: rice and 3 dishes (one pork and vegetables, one chicken and curry or meat in marinade, and one deep fried chicken or fish - or occasionally 'wings'😉. But, the trick was that there was always 3 dishes and a lot of hungry fighters at a table. Lesson learned: Be on time, don't be shy and SHOVEL!
After breakfast we would let our food digest for only a few minutes before retreating (honest, our actual eat-time at breakfast was always in the 5-8 minute mark!), and then it was back to our rooms. Napping was a daily routine. I am not convinced that one could do evening training without a proper nap. Some people with energy would make the 6km trek into town for a smoothy or massage, but especially with a massage it had to be done at high-speed to get back for a quick nap before afternoon training - and usually meant bed right after dinner or a long nap (the whole 4 hours) between trainings. At 2:30pm we would get up and get ready (stretch out and thai-linement our muscles),
all smiles
(I found another girl fighter!) then 3:00pm was a nice short 5km run - though somehow not feeling like half the work of the morning run in that afternoon sun! We would get back and skip with thai ropes (yes, there is a big difference in a normal rope and thai rope - is is made of a plastic tube for super resistance and will have your shoulders burning before your legs!) until the technical start time of 4pm. Again, variations of shadow, pad work, bag work, sparring, technique, boxing, drills, and clinching were all wrapped up into a more intense 3 hour training session. After we would stretch ourselves out in our puddles of sweat, and then drag ourselves off to shower before dinner. Of course, the dragging was never too dramatic on account of the eating arrangement. We were all prompt and filled up, just like we did with breakfast. Then off to bed. Maybe a walk to town if you didn't go in the day for a smoothy (no massage though - too late!) or some sort of pharmacy trip... and that was truly every day for me in Thailand. Of course, we did have 3 Sundays off, so there was a
bit of variation. One day I made my way into Bangkok for the city experience. I wandered some market stalls and kept filling myself with smoothies until the heat drove me inside to a shopping mall, to move from Sushi restaurant to ice cream shop. Then time was up with a 1-2 hour commute back and then a 45 minute walk... after all, training was always the next day...
One Sunday I did manage to go on a true adventure. I took a taxi to one of the biggest, and most well known Temples in Bangkok. Of course, my purpose was not just to sight-see, but to get myself an authentic Thai-blessing. I wandered the grounds and took in the calm of the Monk's sweeping the grounds with others playing music in the background and the water near-by with visitor's feeling hundreds of fish fed & protected by the temple. I found the stall I was looking for, and bought my offering: Flowers, a candle and a pack of cigarettes. I was ready. I walked into the temple and made my way to a room where a Monk was giving out traditional blessings. His hand methodically moved in a
scripted and beautiful manner, piercing the visitor in front of him thousands of times. Each sak yant tattoo took about 5-10 minutes, and there were dozens of people in the room waiting their turn. I bowed down as I entered, as not to be taller than the sitting Monk, and put my offering (a cost of about 2.30 euros) in front of the Monk and waited my turn. After each person who had been there before me was motioned up and received their blessing, I was finally motioned. I had no idea what blessing he would give me or where, I had anticipated a common 9 spires one just under my neck (often the tattoo's are done initially quite high on the back because the blessing is sacred and should be closest to the sky). Two men held me down, as the Monk is not permitted to touch women, and I was shocked as I felt the needle beginning to pierce my shoulder-blade. It was not the tattoo I had anticipated at all, but it was another common "initial" sak yant tattoo for women: the 5 sacred lines. Each line represents part of the blessing that the Monk utters when
he finishes. I am now blessed with loving kindness, success, charm, good luck and protection again evil spirits and bad luck. After I was finished I bowed again, to pay respect to the Monk and headed out to the local market for a bit of food before heading back to the gym - after all, and early morning of training was still on the schedule, just no clinching. And of course, I would have to find the energy for a trip into the pharmacy to get some antibacterial ointment...
An incredible and memorable trip to Thailand. I feel blessed (no pun intended) in more ways that one, and totally refreshed and fit.
More to come... as always!
Trish xx
Advertisement
Tot: 0.183s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 10; qc: 61; dbt: 0.065s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb